At present, LED lighting technology has been widely spread and gradually taken the place of traditional filament lamps. In the issue of environmental protection, LED is superior to traditional lights. It is the most advance lighting technology currently, which is not only energy-saving but also harmless to human body and environmental friendly. Since LED lights are usually reliable and can be used for a long term. Only a very few of people take their cycling into account. This article will talk about some notice points of LED recycling.
LED lamps will maintain an environmental friendly condition in their service lives. Research results indicated that more than 95% LED lamps are recyclable. Recycling companies will buy these scrapped LED lighting products at low prices. LED products have no health-hazard materials, which have been classified in RoHS standard. RoHS certification was implemented in January of 2006 in England. This standard has rigid restrictions on toxic and health-hazard substances using for electrical and electronic equipments. Mercury-containing lead, cadmium and other toxic substances has been defined as toxic and restricted in selling. LED lamp bodies are usually made by aluminum alloy, which completely meet this standard and can be recovered.
The general process of LED recycling is crushing and lamp body separation. Glasses will be transferred into a magnetic field which can separate any non-ferrous metals. In order to remove the aluminum and lead of LED lights, non-ferrous metal separators blasted among crushed glass, leading metals into an isolated slot. The rest of glass and aluminum can be made into other products. Glass will not downgrade due to recovery. It can be repeated recycling.
If we can recover LED lighting products in right ways, they will become even more environmental friendly. A recent study from University of California demonstrated that most LED lights contained a high proportion of nickel. RGB LED lights contained high levels of lead and arsenic. Since LED products are mainly made by aluminum alloy, they cannot be directly discarded like bulbs. Burying will lead to a long-term damage to the earth. In view of the high demand of LED lights in recent years, the LED recycling became far more important than extend their service lives. Recycling will become a essential point for LED’s sustainable development.